In the wake of the foiled terrorist attack at a mosque outside Oslo on 10 August, and the widespread solidarity seen outside mosques around Norway on the morning of Eid, we reflect on the prospects for hope and for the endurance of social fabric. We do so by drawing on our research on responses to… Read more »
Search Results for: what
Beyond False Dichotomies in Debates on Migration
Is there really an inherent conflict between pursuing national interests and acting in globally responsible ways on migration? We call for a debate that moves beyond an artificial dichotomy between the “headless heart” and the “heartless head”. A good start would be to acknowledge the salience and value of binding international agreements, regarding refugees and… Read more »
Crisis in Sudan: Who Can Unlock the Current Impasse?
Since the eruption of the Sudanese popular uprising on 19th December 2018, the protesters have made history. Not only have they unseated one of the longest serving dictators on the continent, Omer El Bashir, their determination and persistence have stunned the world and inspired uprising in other African countries. This uprising is changing the Sudanese… Read more »
Can Businesses Play a Role in Peace and Sustainable Development?
The role of business in society is as contested as ever. Business can help grow local communities, or they can exploit them. Economic growth can bring states together as it did the European Union, or it can help trigger conflict if the benefits are not distributed equitably, as we have seen in Myanmar, Sudan, and Sri… Read more »
The Lifelong Peace Advocate: A Portrait of Marek Thee (1918–1999) by Marta Bivand Erdal
Marek Thee (1918–1999), a portrait written by Marta Bivand Erdal The opposite pole of globalisation is fragmentation – the exclusion of a majority of the world’s population from the benefits of human development, generating a frustrated drive to defensive postures in violent and suicidal ideologies of nationalism, ethnicity and political-religious fundamentalism. Fault-lines are erected across the… Read more »
Congo and Structural Violence: Helge Hveem Interviewed by Per Olav Reinton
Helge Hveem, interviewed by Per Olav Reinton There is no country that illustrates large-scale violence better than the Democratic Republic of Congo. That is why the Nobel Peace Prize to Denis Mukwege is so well deserved, and why it also affirms the validity of structural violence as a concept. Even if the causes may vary… Read more »
A Historian’s Paths to Peace: Reflections from Stein Tønnesson
When looking back, I find nine paths I have explored in a quest to understand war and peace: War as war, war as horror, outbreaks of war, severity of wars, war endings, peace viability, regional transitions to peace, peace practices, and peaceful “utopian moments”, such as 1948, when the UN Declaration on Human Rights was… Read more »
Eid Celebrations and Muslim Generosity
Today is Eid, the Muslim festival that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Families and friends will gather today to enjoy good food and each other’s company. Many Norwegian Muslim children look forward to celebrating Eid, and for many people the social aspects are just as important as the festival’s religious significance…. Read more »
A Social Democratic Peace: Nils Petter Gleditsch Interviewed by Hilde Henriksen Waage
Nils Petter Gleditsch, interviewed by Hilde Henriksen Waage If you read my older publications, you will find very little about democracy, but a lot about equality, justice, and peace. The idea of a liberal peace, built on ties through international trade, became a major theme in peace research at the end of the 1990s. I… Read more »
Will There Be Peace in Westeros?
In my last Game of Thrones blog post I looked into whether there were any similarities between the War of the Five Kings and modern war in the real world. I found a surprisingly large number of similarities. Now that we have seen the end GoT, and we know who sits on the (non)-Iron Throne… Read more »